


How to Catch a Bird

by SecretRock



Series: From Out of the Bat's Shadow [1]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Batman being an asshole, Ficlet, Nightwing and Catwoman are pals in this, Nightwing's POV, she is dating his dad after all, well kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 09:29:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13361670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretRock/pseuds/SecretRock
Summary: Halloween was a favourite for supervillains in Gotham. It may have been the allure of all things spooky and scary; it may have fit with the theme they carved out for themselves; they may have just liked to ruin everyone else’s fun. No matter what, in the seventeen years Dick had been fighting crime, no Halloween had gone without some attempt at the crime history books.The Penguin has gone into hiding after Batman and Nightwing have destroyed almost all of his weapon caches. Nightwing has to think creatively to find the location of the last one.





	How to Catch a Bird

Halloween was a favourite for supervillains in Gotham. It may have been the allure of all things spooky and scary; it may have fit with the theme they carved out for themselves; they may have just liked to ruin everyone else’s fun. No matter what, in the seventeen years Dick had been fighting crime, no Halloween had gone without some attempt at the crime history books. Sometimes the madness even spilled over into Blüdhaven. Dick had been lucky this year that nothing had been planned by the resident crime lords.

That was why Dick had time to follow up a lead on a smuggling operation he’d uncovered. North Refrigeration, run by none other than Oswald Cobblepot. What a shock. And when Batman had needed assistance on an interrogation, well, it seemed like the perfect time to bring up Bruce possibly being in over his head. He was, but that’s where Nightwing (and Robin, and Oracle, and Jim Gordon, and Alfred) came in. Only one problem:

“No.”

A no to helping with Scarecrow, to this new Knight guy, even with Two Face or the goddamn Riddler. Dick took a hint. He’d left, Gotham wasn’t his territory anymore. Batman was protective of his turf, even against other heroes. So instead, Dick just offered to clean up Cobblepot’s operation and be on his way.

Even that was too much for the Big Old Bat.

Despite Dick literally having saved him from a baseball bat to the brain, Bruce was adamant that Dick couldn’t hold his own against the street thugs Penguin hired to guard his weapon stores. The lack of trust would be insulting if Dick hadn’t known it came from a place of concern. It was still frustrating. 

And that was how Dick found himself sat on a rooftop in Gotham, watching five adult men do absolutely nothing. He’d found all the other weapon caches, and Bruce had blown them to kingdom come, so Dick could only assume that operations had been shut down for the night. Cobblepot was trying to save what was left of his business. It was a smart move, and Dick resented it. It was almost as if the world was conspiring to make him feel useless.

The tedium had lulled him into a stupor, Dick reasoned, which was why he didn’t notice the distinctive heel sound until it was right behind him. He didn’t need to look back to see who it was. Only one person in Gotham was brave enough to wear designer heels on a rooftop during an evacuation. And she was probably one of the only villains who wouldn’t attack him on sight.

“My, my, look what the cat dragged in.” A familiar voice purred behind him, and Dick felt Catwoman come to a stop behind him. “I thought brooding was more a bat than a bird thing.”

“Now’s not a good time for a fight, Catwoman.” Dick said as one of the men lit another cigarette. He’d been chain smoking them for the past half an hour. Dick pitied his lungs.

“Oh, trust me, the only person I’m fighting tonight is Eddie. Has the cheek to put a _collar_ on me!” Dick barely concealed a laugh as a cough. He knew Nygma well enough to know it wouldn’t be just an ordinary collar, but the stupidity of pissing off Catwoman of all people was extraordinary, even for Nygma. “So, why is the former boy wonder stalking a couple of Cobblepot’s lackeys?”

“We’re destroying his weapons, putting him out of business.” Dick said, and Catwoman sharply inhaled next to him.

“Careful with that, Cobblepot loves his revenge. An eye for an eye and all that.” She crouched, gently leaning her forearm on Dick’s shoulder. “He won’t be pleased with Batman for this.”

“As if Bats would-“ Dick stopped and the man lit yet another cigarette. Maybe he was trying to kill himself before the city did it. “’An eye for an eye’, you say?” A small smile began to spread over his face as an idea grew in his mind.

“Oh, oh no. I recognise that look.” Catwoman said, her expression the very definition of unimpressed. Dick stood, the suddenness of the movement almost unbalancing Catwoman.

“We’ve been taking precious things from him, he’ll want to take something precious from Batman.” Dick reasoned, and Catwoman groaned. He saw her roll her eyes.  
“Well, I’ve already been kidnapped once tonight, so good luck.” She waved farewell and leapt off the edge of the building. Dick watched her go. She would have been his first choice, almost everyone in Gotham knew about the “thing” between Batman and Catwoman. It was fine without her, though. Everyone also knew how well Nightwing and Batman worked together.

He checked his suit (had to make sure his tracker was working properly), pulled out his escrima sticks and jumped towards the group of thugs. He landed lightly, none of them noticing him.

“Any of you guys know where I can find some guns?” He asked, watching them jump and scramble for any weapon they could find. He watched, moving slowly to hit one of them. It would be difficult to lose to these thugs, but he was sure he could manage.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
